Hydraulic gate



April 14, 1925.

' 1,533,137 L. J. POSPISIL HYDRAULIC GATE Y Filed May 12, 1921 3Sheets-Sheet 1 |"1 i2 Il afl' I ||V V1H ,6* sw I'l ll l @fi/MM@ April14, 1925. v1,533,137

l.. J. PosPlsll.'

HYDRAULIC GATE y Filed May 12, 1921 s sheets-shut 2 @WVM www I L. J.POSPISIL HYDRAULIC GATE iatented ipr- 14; 39259 UNITED STATES PATENTermee.

'tours J. Posrrsrnor sroKANn, WASHINGTON. f Y j Vennemie:cio Garn.

Application lved 'May 12, 1921. j Serial N0. 468,898.

To ZZ wlw/1n, t may concern.'

' Be it knownthat I, LoUis J. PosrisiL, a citizen of' the United States,residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of TWashington,have invented new and useful Improvements in Hydraulic Gates, of whichthe following is aspecification. I

This invention relates to improvements in Y hydraulic gates of thecurtain type for all of the utilities for which such gates are.

which in the most improved embodiment, is

in the form of a strip or strips having slidingengagement with certainof the sections and being secured .to other sections s0 that when thesections are shifted with respect to each Aother,in the operation'ofelevating the curtain, the seals will flex and will always be acted uponby fluid pressure into a water sealing position. l y

.-i further feature of my improved gate consists in extending thesections throughout the width of the gate, likewise, the coactingsealing means, and providing seat portions against which the fluidpressure will seat the sealing means and the sections of the gate, thejuncture of the gate sections and said means with said seat portions,forming a substantially tightjoint.

A. further feature in a gate formed of spaced sections is to providesealing means extending beyond the sections and engaging the seatportions, especially at the spaced portions of said sections, to cut olfleakage therebetween.

A further feature consists in providing a sectional curtain gatearticulated to flex in either of two directions from a vgiven planewhereby the sections will afford a flexible gate which will the morereadily engage the seat portions effectively, `irrespective ofirregularities or inaccuracies either in the gate itselfj or in the seatengaged thereby.

In my improved gate, I preferably dispose the hinges on that side of thegate opposite to the side subjected to the water pressure; and on thewater pressure side, 'Ir' stiften the sections with improvedv beamswhich are arranged to abut when the .curtain is lifted on the rolling7principle, thereby limitingthe diameter of the roll.

proved gate consists in means for either lifting the gate on the curtainroll method, to open the sluice, irrespectivev of whether the gate iselevated above the water line,

or, bodily liftingthe entire gate above the water line to A'expose thegate structure for inspection andl repair or for other purposes.

In those installations .wherein the bottom of the sluiceis below thebottomv edge of the gate whenV the gate is closed, it isa fea" ture ofmy invention to' provide, automat-ic or fiuid actuated means functioningto close the spacebetween the bottom ofthe' sluice and the bottom of thegate, such' means, in the most improved' form ofthe invention, beingcarried by the gate. f

Other features and objects of the invention will vbe more fullydescribed in connnection with the accompanying'drawings and will be morelparticularly pointed out in andV bythe appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1, is a vertical sectional View ofa` sluicestructure with my improved hydraulic gate shown applied thereto, thegate being shown in full-linesA in avsluice closing position, and .indotted lines, in an elevated position. 1

Figure 2, is a view on a slightly enlarged scale looking from the leftofFigure l, and

lshowing a portion vof the sluice way and a portion of the gate.

Figure 3, is a'vertical sectional View on line of Figure 2, showing anupper portion of the gate'and a part the slnico l structure on anenlarged scale.A I

Figure 4, is a sectional view on line 1l-'a of Figure 2, showing themanner 1n which A feature of great importance inmy im-1 lill) the gateis lifted from a closed position. y

Figure 5,v is a sectional view of one side portion of the gateshowingthe'manner in which it engages'the gate seat. l l

Figure 6, is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Figure 3. 1- Q LikecharactersV of referencel ldesignate similar parts-throughout thedifferent iigiures of the drawings.

1 designates generally a slu-ice structure having a sluice ivay orpassage- 2, the direction of flow beingv indicated by arrovvV 3, and

., the Water line 4 beingindicated on thev pressure side. fOn top of themasonry of the structure 1, is diagrainmatically indicated ahoisting'mrechanism which may be briefly described as comprising ahoisting drinn 5, a cable 6 and a slieave 7 journaled on ya vtower 8.The cable` 6 is trained @ver 'the teni o-f the gate, as will laterappear.

, Reference Wilffl next be `inadelto the improved gate, asL regards its,speciii'c` constructil'on.'

vAs illustrated, my improved" gate is formed et a'pl'urality of''sections wh-iclrare inthe ferm of plates 17, all et Whichare identicalin form andfconstruction. However, the noin'ial'lly uppermost sectionwill be Vdesignatedat 18, and*- the normally loweri 'mest vsection at19', to facilitate later description of' the operation thereof-L As'illustrated, the gate sections 17 arearticulated'or hinged together byhinges 20'- having leaf pertions It will be noted'th-at the. hingesare-ontliat side of the gateY opposite the pressure' side, andy itwi'llalso'be noted, and

here fst-ated?, that the hinges are' not kniick-le Y hinges, in other'Werdis\,.-theyhave nofstops each laringe issejcur preventing themfromlex'iin-gi in either of vtwo 'direc-tiens' froinf a vertical plane.V']hereiiore, my improved Oate is flexible in eitlfierof-y tivo.directions,

.W iicliis an im-portant iieature4 to be later-developedll As will benoted by referencete Figure 4:, the adjacent edges of the gate sectionsai'e in spaced relation, as indicated: at 22, one ofthe edges beingchainfered. andi the other of said edges being butt edges. Preferably,the uppermost edge in each space is cham'rei'ed and the spaces arcdisposed above horizontal; lines intersecting the axes odi the hinges.There p maybe one or more lines or? hinges iter eac-h gate but in anyevent, each *lealil portion of l', to e116; section 17, as by he like.It Will-now be means. ofl rivets o clear. that the rigid gate. sections,having intervening spaces, bet-Ween their adjacent ede,v will notprevent the fre-11.1 ttexng in ei her of tive el' retiens-Further-rimas, by dispjesing the-spa@ s 221, slightly abevel the hingeaxes, the gate will. foldgl or 'froll.

ivitlialsseraineimt Ofzaspace than; would.

'ain-ply suiiic-ient to: eovertlie space wvspectivev of the relativeposition ef tlie sections: with respect to yeach other. @As willV strips2:3 and vthe seat 1:1.

ltune-tion is therefore automatic.

otherwise be necessary. In myimprovcd gate, each of the sections 17extends throughout the entire Width of the gata. the end portions 'otthe sections bearing.v against the seatsv4 11 and the top sectionsadditionally bearing againstz'the seat 10. Byv means of thisconstruction, the flexible gate, and each seetien' thereof, wvilleffectively bear against its seat irrespective of irregularitiesof planeoff the seats or inaccuracies in the gate itself. This would not be trueifthe'gate Were controlled in itsopen or Hat position by. knuckle jointser abutment hinges lifmiting movement of the sect-ions'into a givenplane, as such plane would Vnecessarily have to. accurately coincidewith the plane surtace presented by the gate seat, in order to alord'yaneffective juncture. t

Il will next describe vthe no-vel manner in which the spaces between thesectionsfboth intermediate and at Ythe end' and top. edges of the gate,are sealed or packed against leakage. Y My improved gate packing meansis prefeiably inthe form of' sealing means, and as shown, the sameconsists Voft a plurality of iexible sea-ling strips 23,' allA ofivhicliare `identical in form and operation and only one of iv-liiich need bedescribedin detail.

The strip 23, is shown anchored at 241, to thex upper. of thetvvesections: so that said strip will depend in overlapping relation acrossthe space 22 and down o-Vver the next lower section. The` overlap of thestri-p is 22, irrehe seen by reference toAA Figures 2'-aiid 5, thesti-'ips 23: extend slightly beyond the side ends ofithe sections. 1:7infoverlappingrelation ivitlrtheseats 11 but in spaced relation Sealingstriipsei blocks 25,V areV thereto. A suitably secured tothe. ends, otstrip 23 and Y arey et a lengtl-i equal to the Width offsuch stript Thethickness elifthe sealingstrips 251 is.` sii-tlicien-t te, close thespace between the Thus across the space 22- ateacli side end Vo'itatheis an eltect/ive .seal-v preventing endA leakage. As will seen byreference. to VFigure 3, the uppermost sentieri 1,8 i carries sealingstrip 2(5,xsecured thereto at 27,afnd which extends Vabove the upperedge oi-.sectien 181.y This strip carries a sealing element 28 extendingcomplete-ly across the` g te and engaging seat 10, tosealfthe normallyupper edge of the gate against leakage. 1 v

Lt will new be clear` that; my improved packing or sealing meansislinea-ted Wholly ony the fluid pressure sideV of the gate. and

f that therefore saidj means is. alvvays actuated by fluid pressure inthe performance of its ance' is-not placed'npon any action of thSea-line? means itself to nia-kethe Vlatter tunelil() Relii i tion, andas pressure against the lsame will always be present when the gate is ina functioning position, the sealing means will always prevent leakage aslong as it is in repair. y

ln some installations, the normally lower edge of a hydraulic gate,which edge will be indicated by section 19, will overlap downwardlybeyond the bottom of the sluiceway and therefore such normally loweredge might be provided with sealing means similar to that carried bysection 18, of the normally upper edge of the gate. However, vin otherinstallations there is a slope leading from the sluice-way bottom l2,

as shown in Figure 4, and therefore, 'a special form of sealing means isrequired which l will now describe in detail.

A sealing roll 29. which inay be flexible or have a slightly flexibleperiphery, is actuated by fluid pressure to engage the lower(':hani'f'ei'ed edge 30, of section 19 and the base i5, so that it willnot be necessary to lower the gate into actual contact with the bottomof the slu'ice way. To lower a heavy gate into edgewise abuttingrelation with a fiat or inclined sluice-way bottom would require a toogreat amount of accuracy of structure and adjustment to prevent-leakage.Hence l do not lower the edgeBO into actual abutting engagement withVpart l5. The flexible roll 29, under water pressure, serves effectivelyto seal this lower space. This sealing means is preferably carried bythe gate and I have shown the same provided with arms 3l pivoted to thegate at 3Q, the pivotal connection being of a suflicient loose playcharacter to permit the roll f S) to flex into an effective sealing orabutting engagement against the gate and thersluice bottoni, By havingthe roll pivoted-to the ygate,no fastening means: is necessary and theroll will always swing intoa sealing. position. Y y l will next describethe manner in which the gate is suspended with a view of eitherpermitting the gate to be adpisted into -a sliiice closing or openingposition and also permitting the gate to bebodily hoisted into Y pivotedat 36 to said blocks 33. Brackets 37 mounted on the gate structure, in amanner to be presently described, are pivoted at 38 Thus the gate isslidably When the gate isy loweredv to the position shown ink Figure l,it is supported by thev blocks 34:. However, the slidable hanger blocks33 per-` mit the gate tobe elevated to the dotted line position at shownin Figure l, in whichposition the gate will be supported by cable lorcables 6.' However, in the .usual opening operation, the gate will onlybe elevated to the dotted line .position indicated at While l: have`shown a sluice disposed wholly below the water line, in someinstallations the sluice may be extended above the water line.

i willnext describe a part of the gate structure which functions notonly to stiften the plate sections of the gate but which also functionsto control the diameter of roll of the gate when the same is lifted toan" Said beams are secured to the Aplate sections and said beams arepreferably equal in length to thesections to which they are securedtherebyl stift'ening saidv sections throughout their length. It willbenoted that. the flanges 40, of one beam, are en- .Y

Vtirely free from mechanical connection with the flanges l0 of the nextadjacent beam,

and that all of said beamsrare on the` presf 'sure side ofthe gate,opposite to the'sider on which `the hinges aie mounted,- and on thesameside on which the sealing means are disposed. The outer Aflangesetl arethe abutment flanges and are provided with abutment strips 4t2 toincrease the'areas of the abutment edgesy 43. The bracket 37,' is shownsecured to rthe ynormally uppermost beam 39. 'A bracket del is vsecuredtothe normally lowermost beam 39; An elevating arm 4:5 is pivoted to thebracket 4:4-, at 46, and has abutting engagement with the surface t3 vofthe lowermost lbea-m 39; The

hoisting cable 6 has a pivotal connection at Y 47,with arm Thus in thefirst lifting step, the free end of the lowerinost beam will be liftedabout the pintle 20 of the lowei-inost hinge, as an axis, until the'upper surface 43 'of the loweiniost bcaiii 3S), abiits the lowersurface lf3, of the next upper beam. The sections will tl'iereaftei.' beseverally and s-uccessiif'ely shifted on upwardly successive hinges aswill be clearly ,under-Y stood by the detted line position of thegateassliown in Figure 4. Thus the stress in the structure is dividedbetween the hinges and the abutment strips. In the elevating positionthere will be tension at the Ahinges whereas the-free ends of the beamsvVwill be under compression thereby dividing al l Y fact that the partedto the gate.

the stresse-s by not only differentiating the stresses but widelyseparating lthe saine.

rEhe dotted line position shears how vthe seal- Way 2. rll-ius thenormally uppermost edge of the gate would be below the Water linetogether with an additional port-ion of' the gate. This is yusually theextent of movernent of an elevating nature Which is im- Should it bedesired to inspect .the gate, they hoisting; mechanism would be operatedtothe `extent of elevating thegate to the dotted line position aA showninv Figure l, thereby sliding the hanger blocks upwardly along the guiderails 9. In this position, the entire gate would be above the Water lineand could be freelyiiispe'cted as regards allv parts thereof.

It ivillnoiv be clear that a gate which is flexible, as is my improvedgate, in either oftivo directions from a vertical plane, has

thevery great Vadvantage of effectively seat-V inginto a sealingposition irrespective of Virregularities and may the more. readily rollwhen being lifted, curtain fashion, `from a closed to anV openposition;A When being lowered from an openl to a closed poe sition, eachsuceedingl section is free? to. en-

its respective seat'portion With anV effective sealing junctureindependently of its adjacent Sections.

` Furthermore, the means "closes the spaces between. the sectionsVirrespective oft-he folding or unfolding re- 'lation of the sectionswith respect to. eac-li other;V 1

In a large measure?, many of the advantages yoit 4my improved gate aredue: tothe sections are articulated onyone sideA of the gate and thesealing means is disposed onthe opposite side'. Advantages also arisefrom the fact that the gate has itsabutnieiit beams oielementsvontli-atside Vopposite to the side on Vwhich the hinges are disposed. I'It is believed that Vthe advantages and utility oi my invention VwillVbeclcarly understood troni the foregoing description and vwhile I'harevliei'ein shown. and described one specific forni of my invention, Ido not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as theclaims may import.

lf,claim':. ,V Y l l. A hydraulic gate comprising a; plurality of ar-tviilated section's in normally spaced relation: vto each other, andpacking means disposed'vexteriorly ot said. sections andclosing thespacesbetween said ysections to. each other.

packing or `sealing v ralit-y of articulated sections in spaced relationto eachother, flexible sealing devices irrespective oi" the folding oriin-folding or other relation of said `sections with respect to eachother.

2.1i. hydraulic gate comprising a plurality ofarticulated sections innormally spaced relation to each other, a packing means onthe pressureside of said sections for closing the spaces between said sectionsirrespective of the folding lor iin-folding or other relation ofsa'idyseetions with respect` 3,V A hydraulic. lgate comprisingV aVplurality of articulated sections, and flexible seals lat the junctuiesof said sections, each seal being mounted on; one section andoverlapping the next adjacent section across the lune-ture between suchsections.

4. A hydraulic gatev comprising a plu- Y rality off horizontallydisposed plate sections with the lengthwise edge margins in spacedrelation, and strip seals secured to certain of said sections andoperlapping adjacent sections across the intervening space therebetween.

5.,'A; hydraulic gate comprising a plural` ity of articulated sectionsin edge spaced retei'nate sections and overlapping sections ad# Jacenttov those carrying the seals to close Vthe intervening spaces betweensaid sections sections lation, and flexible Hapy seals secured to al- Ya plurality of articulated sections in normally spaced relation to 'eachother, and Water sealing r:means extending continuously throughout thelength of said spaces ex- `posed toleakage. f I 7'.l A hydraulic gatecomposed oli' a plu-v closing the spaces betweenv said sections, and

inea'ns for shifting said sections one at a time.

ioo

iio

on which said hinges are ii'iounted and said abut-ments v being hingededges ofsaid sections.

10.; A hydraulic curtain gate composed oi a plurality'of gate sections,said sections being hinged together, and abutment beams mounted on saidr sections and being free from. engagement'witli each other when said`gate isiii an extended position.

l1. A hydraulic gate composed ci a pludispose'dbetween the rality ofgate sections hinged to each other to form a curtain gate, and I-beamssecuredV to said sections and projecting therefrom and the freeprojecting portions of said beams forming coactiiig abutments to limitthe diameter of roll o't the curtain when being elevated.

1Q. A hydraulic curtain gate composed ot' a plurality oi gate sectionseach extending throughout the Width of the gate and being hingedlyconnected, and an abutment beam secured to reach section and extendingsubstantially throughout the Width of the gate.

13. A hydraulic curtain gate structure, con'ipi'ising in combination,slidable means connected with the normally upper edge ot the gate tosupport the latter'below the water line and in a downwardly extendedposition to close the sluice, and mechanism connected with the normallylower edge of said gate for either elevating said gate above said meansto open the sluice or bodily elevating said gate and means entirelyabove the Water line.

14. In combination, a curtain gate for closing a sluice, a guide havinga limiting ing said gate and dragging said hanger todispose the gate atan extreme elevation upwardly along said guide.

l5. A hydraulic gate structure for a sluice way provided with gate seatportions, a gate composed of hinged plate sections in spaced. relationand having ends for engagement against the seat portions to close thesluice Way, sealing strips closing the spaces between said sections andextending beyond the ends of said sections, and sealing ele-- mentssecured to the projecting ends of said engagement against the seatportions to close 1 the sluice Way, and means 'for sealing the spacesbetween said sections atthe ends ot the latter adj acentthe seatportions; l

17. A hydraulic sluice structure gate for a sluice Wayprovided With gateseat porl i tions, a gate composed of hinged sections in spaced relationand having their ends adapted to engage theV seatV portions in closingthe sluice Way, means closing said spaces along one side of said gate,and means sealing said spaces at the side edges ofy said gate. i y

18. A hydraulic gate struc-ture for a sluice Way'provided with gate seatportions, a gate composed ofV hinged sectionsin vspaced. relation andVhaving their ends adapted to engage side seat portions and its topadapted to engage a top seat portion, and packing devices actuated byfluid pressurefor sealingv said spaces between Said sections and co-act!ing with a seat portion for sealing said gate abreast of its top andside edges. i

VIn testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my oivn,'I hereby aiiiX mysignature.

mins J. PosPisiL.

